Netflix Will Host Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm and Pixar Films Exclusively in September

Every subscriber to Netflix’s streaming service has probably asked the question at one point or another: Why do some titles show up on the service each month, while others disappear? What’s the rhyme or reason to why I could watch a favorite movie or TV show last month, but I can’t now?

Usually, the answer has something to do with various deals Netflix makes with different production and distribution entities, in which packages of films and television series are made available on Netflix for specific periods of time. Now, a major new deal with Disney will officially go into effect this fall, bringing several coveted franchises to the streaming giant and its customers.

Netflix announced that, starting in September, the service will become the “exclusive US pay TV home of the latest films” from several Disney-owned content brands. These include Disney itself, in addition to Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar. The news instantly caused Disney’s stock price to rise, according toTHR. Netflix even released an advertisement teasing upcoming new releases that will be available on the service this summer.

The news came as part of a larger announcement by Netflix, detailing the many titles that will be available in the next few months in the U.S. and Canada. This includes, Best Picture Oscar winner Spotlight, the first three Jurassic Park movies, and the original movie The Fundamentals of Caring, starring Paul Rudd. July will see the Netflix debuts of The Big Short, Netflix originals Brahman Naman and Tallulah, and the Netflix debuts of theLethal Weapon and Back to the Future movies. In August, Netflix will debut The Fast & The Furious, The Wedding Planner and St. Vincent, as well as the original film The Little Prince.

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The deal comes four years after Netflix announced it had reached an agreement with Disney to become the exclusive pay-TV home of the studio’s releases; that deal, the parties said in 2012, would go into effect in 2016 with Disney’s 2016 slate of releases. The new announcement confirms that availability window starts in September.

So, this means a lot of new movies at once, right? Yes -- except that because the deal only begins with the 2016 Disney slate, it won’t cover such stalwart 2015 films from Disney as Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Inside Out, Avengers: The Age of Ultron, or Ant-Man. And even the 2016 releases will likely have some degree of lag after their theatrical runs.